22 Foxhole East

apple_muncher

Enjoy that 2nd coffee.

f0xh0les

Well I was ..... right up until DH came downstairs and announced he has lost another bucket of weight and is now, wait for it, wait for it..... ...... 7 lbs  lighter than me.  I swear that man loses weight just by sleeping.  Oh well, I have not put any on, so hopefully mine will get the memo soon and b*gger off.  

So I have a happy jolly bouncy man this morning, with a very sore shoulder (3 weeks, no idea what he has done) and a sore rib.

kerri_gt

f0xh0les - can you get the pigeon spikes for your wall to deter people? I'd really hate that someone had been in my garden, prob more than my house...the house is a tip, they'd think someone had for there before them!
Perhaps washing clothes in the bath could be a new MSE idea? 
Tell OH he is losing muscle so basically wasting away like the old super noodle advert? Or is that a bit mean? 

f0xh0les

I had vicious pigeon/cat spikes on our fence and gate in Salford, until someone nicked them.  DS3 (about 3 at the time) suggested a wizard did it, and ran away.     It has become the house excuse ever since.  In fact it was used again just this lunchtime.

I have spent the day drawing pictures of my house, well, drawing plans and playing with layouts. I think I have something that could work for us all.  It gives all the kids double bedrooms - I have to future proof this house in case they never leave home or (god forbid) turn up with lovers (shudder).  And adds 2 shower rooms - we have a ridiculously large upstairs bathroom that could easily be split into a very short corridor leading to a door to a  room with bath and shower and wc and basin at the back of the house, and the front portion of the room could then be a shower room and basin and w/c So then I started to look for architects locally.  Just having a look to see who is about and see if I can see any work they have done on a house of a similar shape to ours. 

I am trying to put together a comprehensive shopping list to please all  the people in the family, but so far the kids have requested sesame bagels - that is the limit of their input. I was at least expecting licorice or strawberry laces, but no.   They do seem to be enjoying Herr L1dl's chocolate weetabix (all I could find with a vegan label when the panic buying was at its height) and dh deems it suitable as diet food so it can't be that bad for them.

My 3 bunches of 38p carnations from last month have now all opened and are beautiful, they will probably last another week.  Well worth the spends.

I am going to reevaluate my volunteering when the death rate hits 1000 for 2 days running.   So that is why I am going to do some freezer shopping and a little more for the pantry - I have spent less than £58 on food so far this month.   Poor dh is still totally knackered, utterly exhausted, and absent mindedly scatterbrained,  but he says he is much better. He had a massive coughing fit again upon becoming horizontal last night, and again on becoming vertical this morning.   He will neither  be told, nor advised, so I have just shut up and now state it is none of my business, unless be becomes unconscious.  Apparently I am not helpful,  ........who knew!

Supper is Bigos.  DS4 requested sauerkraut on the shopping list last week (my kids are weird, I know), so he should not object to this meal time. 

bizzie

When we were planning our building works I trawled through properties that had sold in / near my road on R!ght M0ve to look at floor layout plans, then looked at the online planning portal our council uses to publicise applications to get an idea of what was possible / allowed within the area and which companies had been used. 

f0xh0les

Thanks Bizzie,  our house is a good deal bigger than 95% of the houses on our road / side streets, so there is only really our little row of 4 houses that are flippin' HUGE but with no grass garden. 

I have spent the last 2 days on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floors.  Mostly done, 10% left, it looks much better, and the colour of the water I was pouring away was just embarrassing. It should be much easier to keep clean as long as I can keep on top of it. I might get one of those steam cleaner mop things.

Moved a  short bookcase I was using as extra kitchen storage into the pantry - the stuff I was storing on it was just not needed. My pantry is now even more attractive.  I love it.

Hardly spent any money this week. Less than £32 and I don't think I need to buy anything else  until next Monday, or when I run out of milk. Whichever comes first.  So it is looking to be a very cheap week. I shunted £500 to savings at the start of the month, and I think the child benefit will top up all but £50 the kids regular savers account money that is needed.  So all in all, I am saving hugely.

Just thought,   I bet all the kids will have outgrown their shoes by the time the schools go back. Will need to set up a little emergency school purchase slush-fund,  they will keep growing!

All the laundry line dried (my washing machine has suddenly become hypermobile on the spin cycle), the heating was on for an hour last night (dh was cold) and that was it.   I need to reprogram it to not come on, but turning the thermostat down low stops it at the moment - I have to move the fridge to get to the control panel.

The house has been aired, ds4 wants to make peanut butter choc brownies with his easter choc, so when ds3's double choc brownies have been eaten, then that is the plan - dh cut them into 1 inch squares yesterday, so they will last for their puddings tonight, and tomorrow lunch and possibly beyond.

I relabeled all the glass jam jars I am storing nuts and seeds and dried fruit in (or rather, in which I am storing nuts and seeds - you should not end a sentence with a preposition I seem to remember - there you go teacher-types).

Diet is going well, I am not going up anyway, so I will take that as a win. I am not doing any daily exercise except scrubbing and hoovering and furniture lugging.  I will try and wedge an hour's walk in somewhere, but the idea of going out in all that pollen is really not tempting.   I can see a change in shape and I feel thinner. I have lost the 'apron' that appeared at the end of last year.  I was not having that! So I got rid of it.  So, exercise is the next thing to think about.  I mean honestly,  I do not have the excuse of not having the time, do I?  I wonder if I will be unrecognizable  when I go back to the school gates? That seems a very nice idea.

Baileys_Babe

Morning @foxholes you sound upbeat, my children have decided now is a good time for a growth spurt, I too have started a clothes replacement fund.

Are there other areas you know of that have your design of house? You could then check Rightmove or similar for those for sale or previously sold to look at layouts as well as look at planning department archives online.

kerri_gt

I guess on the upside of them not being at school is that you don't have to replace the uniform / shoes they are growing out of immediately (very MSE  ) Was talking to a friend about when we think schools may  re-open. I was wondering whether it might be beginning of June - after what would be the Summer mid-term Half Term in England / Wales. Then they'd have 6 weeks or so back at school before the summer break (unless they then did another 'half term' and a couple of weeks at school in the summer and a shorter summer hols). Shopping for new uniforms for the Autumn term will be interesting though - usually it's like a rugby scrum in some stores, that won't work with social distancing. 

Baileys_Babe

Once the schools closed I have always thought that they weren't likely to open before September. Which has been reinforced by the  cancellation of this summer's exams. I'm happy to be proved wrong.

kerri_gt

Baileys_Babe said:

Once the schools closed I have always thought that they weren't likely to open before September. Which has been reinforced by the  cancellation of this summer's exams. I'm happy to be proved wrong.

I initially thought that too, but if there is a drive to get people back to work like we are seeing in other countries slowly lifting lockdown I can't see how that would be viable with so many children needing childcare if not in school. The cancellation of summer exams will means there's 2 yrs worth not in school which will slightly help with distancing, and I see Denmark is sending younger children back which may also be an option here I guess. Perhaps for senior schools some years would go back with others still off. Just hypothesising.